SURGICAL SITE INFECTION

Abstract

Objectives: To compare antibiotic prophylaxis in preventing frequency ofpostoperative surgical site wound infection rate in low risk laparoscopic cholecystectomywith controls. Study design: Randomized Controlled Trial. Setting: Department of Surgery,Combined Military Hospital, Rawalpindi. Duration of study: This study was conducted from11-07-2015 to 10-01-2016. Subjects and methods: A total of 650 patients (325 in each group)were included in the study. Patients in group-A received antibiotic prophylaxis whereas patientsin group-B did not receive any antibiotic prophylaxis. Results: Mean age of the patients was44.91±13.37 and 42.28±13.76 years in group-A and B, respectively. In group-A there were152 patients (46.7%) and in group-B 148 patients (45.5%) were males. In group-A 173 patients(53.3%) and in group-B 177 patients (54.5%) were females. In group-A, superficial site infectionwas seen in 4 patients (1.2%) and in group-B superficial site infection was observed in 13patients (4.0%). The difference between two groups was statistically significant (p=0.027).Mean duration of symptoms was 5.75±0.50 and 5.77±0.92 days in group-A and B, respectively.Stratification with regard to age, gender and duration of symptoms was carried out. Conclusion:In conclusion, we recommend the use of pre-operative prophylactic antibiotics for patientswho are undergoing elective low-risk laparoscopic cholecystectomy inorder to prevent postoperativeinfectious complications.